Timeline Journaling is exactly what it sounds like. You take your journal, draw a line through the center, and pinpoint your life events chronologically. It is an excellent way to map out your life visually.
Look, I love writing as an insight tool. This website is called “write your wellness” after all. But I gotta face the facts. Sometimes you need a quick, visual guide. You can think of timeline journals as an infographic of your life – easy and informative.
You can focus these timelines on your life in general or you can pick a topic. Dedicate a day to exploring self-trust or your relationship with your best friend. Whatever you choose, you’ll get a lot of insight.
If I haven’t sold you yet, don’t worry. I have 5 reasons you should invest time in timeline journaling. It doesn’t matter if you are just starting out, restarting, or deepening your journaling practice – everyone has something to gain from this prompt.
Reason 1: Timeline Journaling is Easy
If you can draw a line, you can timeline journal. It doesn’t get easier than that.
Some days you just can’t be bothered to write out multiple pages. When energy is low, writing out a timeline is way, way easier than coming up with a full thought. It is a great way to get rid of those journaling roadblocks! Sometimes I don’t even fully describe the event. I just give something a quick name and move on. Some of the more recent event names I’ve chosen are “that pigeon guy” and “piano meals” (if you know me well and you know what these mean…no you don’t).
As an added bonus? You don’t even have to finish the timeline in one sitting. There is always the option of fleshing it out a little bit more. To me, that feels unheard of with traditional written journaling. But with timelines? It can be a forever work in progress. Fill it in at your leisure.
Reason 2: Timeline Journaling Tackles Perfectionism
I wasn’t thinking about the rhyme and rhythm of my words when I wrote “that pigeon guy”. It was more of a scribbled note situation. That is part of the beauty of timeline journaling.
Don’t focus on getting the line “just right” or worry if the notes will make sense to other people. In an ideal world, no one else but you will see this timeline. It doesn’t have to make sense or impress anyone. And to be frank? It doesn’t have to impress you either.
In fact, I want you to make this timeline messy. After all, isn’t life messy? Whenever I make mine, I always start off trying to space everything out evenly but every time I end up cramming in more boxes because I remember something important. It is always better to write down something important than to get even timeline spacing. Yes, always.
Reason 3: Timeline Journaling Shows the Big Picture
Why always? Because you want to use this timeline to see the bigger picture. So often we forget how far we’ve come and what the journey has felt like along the way. But when we write out a timeline, we capture all those moments. All those feelings come with it.
You could go back through journal after journal every time you have a question about yourself. But wouldn’t it be easier to look at a timeline? Depth and breadth each have their place.
Reason 4: Timeline Journaling Helps You See Patterns
Once you have a handle on the big picture, you can start to see patterns. I know I don’t do a lot of self-disclosure on this blog BUT I will tell you this…before I started timeline journaling, I had no idea what first impressions I was giving to people. After a quick timeline (and a couple of interviews with those closest to me) I discovered that I put up walls. Hard. Almost every close friend I have is the result of a miraculous second shot at a first impression.
My point is this. You don’t know what you don’t know. If I hadn’t put together a timeline of my friendships, I would have never learned how guarded I am around strangers. Now that I know, I can change.
What will you discover about yourself? How will you change? A timeline journal is a fast-track way to understand those patterns.
Reason 5: Timeline Journaling is Art Therapy
One common misconception about art therapy is that you need to make good art to be good at the treatment. Putting aside the “can you be good at therapy” can of worms, art therapy DOES NOT equal good art. The therapy comes from the process and the joy of creating something.
When you make your timeline, be present. Try to shape the timeline in a way that feels right to you. For example, I try to make bigger boxes for bigger events. Sometimes I even put productive events above the line and harmful events below the line. Again, you can craft whatever method works best for you.
Remember, this is about self-expression. I want you to take 5 deep breaths every time you catch yourself worrying about how good it is going to look. This is a tool, at the end of the day. You need a work hammer, not Mjolnir.
Final Thoughts
Whether you are a new journaler who doesn’t know where to start or a veteran who just needs a little bit of extra clarity, timeline journaling is a great tool to use. Timelines are quick, intuitive, and (most importantly) a change of pace. Who couldn’t use that in their journaling practice?
I will leave you with a final word of caution. Timeline journaling shouldn’t be the only journal tool you use. Without the depth and context of fuller pages / a full life, you won’t have enough substance to timeline journal every day. That is okay. Sticking with the tool metaphor here – if your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
In the next few weeks, we will focus on prompted journaling. This is a great tool to use in between timelines (especially if you have a journal jar). We’ll look at prompts for anger, anxiety, and trust.
Hint, hint. If those topics sound interesting to you, keep an eye out! I’ll be releasing more journal jar filler kit freebies next month!
